The Broken Heart
by HPfanonezillion
Summary: Harry and Ginny both make some hard decisions and admit some hard truths.


Ginny sat in her room in the Burrow. Harry and Hermione were once again adding themselves into the craziness that was the Weasley home. Fred and George had moved out after they had finally opened up their joke shop in London. So Hermione didn't have to share the room with Ginny. And Harry was able, since Percy had been gone so long, to sleep in his empty room.

It was that summer that Ginny finally decided it was time to tell Harry of her true feelings. She had made the decision last year when the evil Professor Umbridge had ruled the school. And Harry had, at Ron and Hermione's urging, lead special defense classes. Dumbledore's Army, they had called themselves. It was so exciting, going under people's noses and learning better ways to defend yourself.

But that Cho Chang had run after Harry. And they even kissed under the mistletoe last Christmas. She was so jealous and angry, she could have ripped out Cho's hair. Especially after it was her friend that ratted them all out. How dare she? Harry deserved better than her and all her crying every five minutes about Cedric Diggory's death.

So Ginny decided then and there that she would tell Harry. She just had to find the perfect time. Maybe she could pull him away after dinner one night. Or just say it right out. Hermione said she was pretty obvious about it, so it wouldn't really be a big revelation. But she had to talk to him about it and get it out in the open.

The night he arrived, there was too much confusion and insanity as he and Hermione, who had arrived that day also, got settled into their rooms and Mrs. Weasley fussed over the two of them.

"My how you've grown since last summer. Just look at the pair of you. Growing up. Soon you'll be gone. No more Hogwarts. No more coming to visit." She broke down and ran off. It was a normal occurrence these days since Fred and George had moved out. She was suffering from a severe case of empty nest.

Ginny grabbed Hermione's bag and pushed her up to the room where she'd be staying. She threw her bag on the floor and locked the door behind them. She put a charm on it that prevented others from listening in. Hermione was slightly frightened for a moment before Ginny finally spoke.

"I need to talk to him."

"Harry?" she asked, even though she knew perfectly well who she meant.

Ginny nodded.

"Then do it, Ginny. He's not going to bite. I know he won't."

"I'm just…What'll he say?" She plopped down on the bed beside Hermione.

"I don't know. If he's smart he'll say he'll give it a shot. And if he's not smart, Ron and I will beat him up for you."

Ginny laughed at this.

"What's the worst that could happen? It's not like he doesn't already like you as a friend. Maybe you could ask him to give it a shot. Or maybe when you tell him, even though I believe he already knows, you could just say something like, 'I just want to put all this out there and I don't really expect anything more than your friendship.' And then you can tell him."

"And then what? Run away? He'll laugh in my face, Hermione."

"He won't. Harry's not like that. He might just say 'That's nice, but let's just stay friends.' And if he says that, don't be upset. It just means he's not the right guy for you and you do your best to move on."

"But I can't see myself with anyone but him."

"I know. I understand. And maybe if you find this courage, I'll find my own."

"You've never admitted it, but I know you like my brother. And I know he likes you. Maybe of you could find the courage to tell him… Never mind."

"Ron's great… Sometimes I wish you didn't like Harry so much."

"You like him too?" Ginny asked, shocked.

"A little. But I have no right to him. He's more like a brother to me most of the time. And you'd be better for him anyway."

Ginny placed her hand on Ginny's knee, "Thank you."

She hopped up and moved toward the door. She did all the counter spells and opened it. She turned back to Hermione, "Is it wrong to think that I deserve him more than anyone should deserve anything else?"

Hermione smiled, "Of course not. You both deserve the best. And I think you would find that in each other."

Ginny's grin grew wider. "Thank you." Then she ran off to her room to plan.

As the summer passed, she would often try to get up enough courage to tell him. Tried several times without succeeding in pulling him aside as they played Quiddich or as they helped Mrs. Weasley with the housework. But she couldn't ever bring herself to do it. Hermione gave her pep talks often and she would build up the courage to walk up to the twins' old room where he was staying and knock. But as she lifted her hand, she suddenly lost the courage and ran back downstairs, only to find that Harry wouldn't have been in there anyway because he and Ron were off somewhere wondering around.

On the night of Harry's birthday, there was a big celebration. The twins showed up as did Charlie and Bill and a great number of other people to take part in the festivities. So that would not have been a good time. Or would it. Even though they would all be there to pay tribute to Harry turning 16, would any of them realize if he was gone for a few moments as Ginny spilled her guts? It was worth a try.

But, try as she did, Ginny could never find Harry alone or pull him away for even a moment. There was always someone there giving their best wishes. And then there was the dinner and the cake and the opening of presents. And then they were cleaning up and all the guests were leaving.

After all that was done and everyone had gone to bed, Ginny felt her plan had been a total waste. She kicked herself as she ran through the day and saw all the perfect times she actually probably could have spoken to Harry or the times when she could have pulled him away. She hated that now she had a clearer perspective that things could have been different. She fell asleep angry at herself for yet another attempt wasted.

When she woke up the next morning, she had a new resolve. She would find a way to get Harry alone today or she would never speak the truth to him. But there was a knock on her door that would forever change the way Ginny viewed things. She finished dressing and opened the door to find Hermione standing there in her dressing robe. She looked like she hadn't slept.

She pushed the younger girl into the room and sat her down. She put a charm on the door so that no one would hear what was going on in the room. Ginny was confused, she had no idea what was going on. Hermione paced back and forth in front of her for a long time before she finally spoke.

"I haven't slept." She stated the obvious.

"I can see that." Ginny said with a chuckle.

"It's good you're laughing now. You won't be in a minute."

"What's going on?"

"Please don't get angry."

"Spit it out Hermione." Ginny demanded.

"Ron, Harry, and I have been up all night talking."

"It's good you are all such great friends you can spend so many hours talking and never go silent."

"Well we sure did have a lot to talk about."

"What did you talk about?"

"Harry." She sat down on the bed beside Ginny. "Ginny… He's gay."

The bubbliness that had been building inside her has she was preparing herself for the day suddenly burst into a wail. She stood and walked over to the window. Maybe this was all a dream. The sky was too blue. The grass was too green. The birds were singing far too sweetly. It was a dream. She slapped her self and started pinching herself before Hermione could get to her.

She wrapped her arms around her heart-broken friend and brought her back over to the bed. As she cried, Hermione smoothed down her hair and whispered sweet words into her ear.

"It'll all be okay, Ginny, I promise."

"It can never be okay. My world has ended, Hermione. What am I gonna do?"

"We talked about this. You do the best you can and you move on."

"We never said anything about _gay_ being an option." She stood and stormed out of the room. Her tears had stopped for a moment and she knew if she wasn't at breakfast, Mrs. Weasley would come looking.

She did a quick spell to clear up her face and she walked into the dining room to see Harry and Ron looking just as sleepy as Hermione. Ron looked a bit annoyed, but mostly okay. Harry looked relaxed. Ginny noticed for the first time how tense he had always been before. Was it because he was so worried about letting something slip? Had he always been watching himself so closely?

Hermione came in a few moments later fully dressed and sat down next to Ginny who was picking at her food. Harry and Ron had already gone for seconds and both looked like they were contemplating thirds. After she had spent enough time in the dining room, she got up and quickly made her way outside.

Hermione whispered across to Harry as Mrs. Weasley flitted out of the room, "You need to go talk to her."

He nodded and stood. He walked outside and found her on the other side of the garden. She was kneeling down, looking at something on the ground. When he made his way over, he saw she was looking at a frog on the ground.

"Mood morning, Ginny." he said from behind her, startling her.

She stood and tried to look at him, but couldn't. She mumbled, "Good morning, Harry."

"We should probably have a talk."

"I don't know if I want to have a talk. Not with you, not with anybody. This sucks, Harry." She walked off in the direction of the road.

Harry followed. "I know you hate me right now."

She stopped and turned, "I don't hate you. I could never hate you."

"Then talk to me, Ginny."

"I don't know what to say to you."

"Say you're still my friend. Say you'll support me. I need as many friends behind me on this as I can get."

"I don't know if it can be that easy." She said as she started walking again.

He followed, "Then let's do the best we can. I need you, Ginny, I do. Ron and Hermione are my best mates, but I'm gonna need all the support I can get. As soon as this gets out, people might not be so keen on me being the savior of humanity if I'm not normal."

"You were never normal, Harry. You're special. Everyone will always see that and know that whoever you fancy has nothing to do with that. But it doesn't stop my heart from breaking." And with those last words she turned and headed back to the house. But she stopped after a few steps and turned, "If I were to transfigure myself into a boy, would you go out with me?"

"Whoa. Where did that come from?"

"Sorry." Ginny said as she turned and headed back to the house once more. "Please forget I said that." she called.


End file.
